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University of Michigan endowment discloses $394 million in commitments

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, disclosed $394 million in alternative and absolute-return commitments from its $12.2 billion long-term endowment pool ahead of its board of regents meeting on Thursday.

The commitments were made from November through January to three alternative investment strategies and four absolute-return strategies to six existing fund managers. UM's investment office has authority to invest in new funds and strategies offered by existing managers without approval by the board, board documents show.

On the alternative side, the university made two $50 million commitments in December. One was to Bain Capital Asia Fund IV, an Asia-based private equity fund that invests in companies, primarily through buyout transactions, headquartered in greater China, Japan, India, South Korea and Australia. The other commitment was to Summa Equity II, a private equity fund that invests in private, lower midmarket companies in the Nordic region.

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In January, UM committed €30 million ($34 million) to Primary V, a London-based private equity fund managed by Primary Capital Partners that invests in private lower middle-market companies headquartered in or having substantial operations in the U.K.

In absolute return, the university committed $150 million in December to two London-based European private credit funds based managed by Napier Park Global Capital that provide risk retention capital to European collateralized loan obligation managers. A $100 million commitment went to Napier Park Henley Series I and $50 million to Napier Park Europe Loan Management Designated Activity Co. Series III.

In November, UM committed $50 million to Abax Asian Structured Private Credit Fund III, a Hong Kong-based direct lending fund whose primary strategy is making loans to small- and medium-size enterprises that are based in China or have a significant Chinese connection, managed by Abax Global Capital.

Lastly, the university committed $60 million to New York-based JAM Partners, a market-neutral hedge fund that focuses on U.S. financial sector stocks, managed by Jacobs Asset Management.